§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the number of people in receipt of higher education awards for designated courses and her Department's estimate of the number of people entitled to receive such awards; on what basis her Department's calculation is made; what are the total sums involved; and what were the corresponding figures in the past five years.
§ Mr. OakesThe number and cost of awards made by local education authorities, DES and Scottish Education Department to students attending courses designated under the Local Education Authorities Awards Regulations 1975 or similar courses in Scotland are set out below:
Up to 1974–75 the figures are based on returns from awarding authorities; subsequently they are estimated on the basis of provisional student numbers and recent levels of grant.
Number of awards Expenditure(£ million) 1971–72 … 360,482 127.7 1972–73 … 367,860 130.0 1973–74 … 366,864 137.0 1974–75 … 369,839 174.4 1975–76(estimate) … 390,000 225.0 1976–77 (estimate) … 390,000 275.0 Provided they satisfy the regulations, students attending these courses will receive an award on application. The number of students who do not apply is not known but is likely to be very small.